# CVE-2025-20314: Security feature bypass in Cisco IOS XE Software

> An attacker with local access or physical presence can bypass the chain of trust to execute persistent code on Cisco IOS XE devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 24 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 26 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wpmf-xfg7-q3gp

## What is CVE-2025-20314?

CVE-2025-20314 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software, published on 24 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level-15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to an affected device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of software packages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing a crafted file into a specific location on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute persistent code on the underlying operating system. Because this vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass a major security feature of a device, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.

Weakness: CWE-232 (Improper Handling of Undefined Values)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-20314?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-20314?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-20314 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-20314 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-20314 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-20314 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-20314 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software, published on 24 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-20314 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco IOS XE Software. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20314/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20314/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-20314
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-20314
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-20314

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20314/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.